Broken Angel
by Kyepie05
Summary: Little Johnny Cade has it rough. No one understands him and he's either ignored, hit, or yelled at at home. All he wants is a place to belong. And one lunch detention he finally finds an unlikely friend...


**All right. I hope you guys like this! It's a companion piece for Remembering Johnny Cade. You don't have to have read that first for this to make sense though! The title comes from the song Broken Angel by Boyce Avenue. I thought it fit Johnny well :)**

** I do not own the Outsiders! S.E. Hinton does! I also don't own Broken Angel by Boyce Avenue.**

* * *

Eight-going-on-nine-year-old Johnny Cade made his way to the classroom; keeping his head down and his eyes pointed to the ground, only turning up every now and again. He inside and sunk into a chair near the back, where Ms. Brown had assigned him to sit. Some kids preferred to be near the front but not Johnny. He didn't want to be anywhere where people would be watching him.

As she taught the class, he felt someone elbow him. Nervously, Johnny's eyes darted to the blonde boy beside him. The boy offered him a paper that had fallen out of his binder. "Thanks," Johnny mumbled, taking it from him. He slid his homework assignment back into his binder.

"Gee, you don't talk much do you?" the kid whispered.

"We aren't supposed to," Johnny whispered back.

The kid watched him for several minutes. "I'm Fred," the kid hissed.

Johnny hesitated before replying, "Johnny."

"Why you so quiet, Johnny?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders, looking down at his desk, not sure of how to even answer that question. For one thing, no one seemed interested in talking to him. Some days he almost thought he'd forgotten how. Fred fell silent as well, for a while anyway. Throughout the class, Fred would whisper smart comments or ask him a question every now and then.

But when Fred asked him if he wanted to sit with him and his friends at lunch, Johnny was thrown off guard. Someone actually wanted him around? He could barely manage a nod, feeling stunned but excited. No one ever wanted him around! He still had another class before lunch and he barely managed to sit still through it, thinking that he might just make friends today. It was a wonderful thought.

Lunch finally rolled around and Johnny got his food then scanned the crowd for Fred. When he finally spotted him, he smiled and waved quickly. Fred waved him over in response. Johnny made his way to him quickly, almost bouncing with excitement. Lost in his own world, he didn't see Fred's foot sticking out as he headed for the empty chair at the table.

Johnny tripped and his tray flew into the air as he landed flat on his stomach on the ground. Laughter erupted from the other students but the laughter that rang out the worst was Fred's. He looked up at the boy he had trusted only to see him bellowing with laughter, holding his sides. Tears threatened to pour out of his eyes but Johnny didn't let them fall. He had too much practice at holding back tears to cave now.

He sat up and salvaged what he could of his lunch, not taking his eyes off the floor. Quickly, he got to his feet and headed for the door.

"Hey, look at the weirdo," jeered one of Fred's friends. "That sure was funny, Fred."

"Hey!" a voice said defiantly. "Leave 'im alone."

"You stickin up for the freak?"

"I _said_ leave him alone."

Johnny glanced over his shoulder to see if he recognized the boy sticking up for him. He didn't. The kid had dark-gold hair and brown eyes that were dancing with anger and defiance. He was on the small side but still larger than Johnny was. Next to him was another boy. This one was larger than Fred even, taller, wider set shoulders, and sort of threatening looking.

"I'd do what he said," the second kid growled, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to look even more menacing. It worked. Fred and his group slowly backed off, muttering that it wasn't worth it. He thought he heard Fred mutter some obscene word that would have landed him a visit to the principle's office for sure but he wasn't sure.

Embarrassed, Johnny quickly exited the cafeteria. As he left, he spotted Ms. Brown giving him a sympathetic look. This just made the tears harder to fight as he made his leave. He didn't want sympathy. He didn't want to be laughed at or ridiculed or mocked. He had just wanted friends. He'd just wanted someone to talk to him because they wanted to. Not because they felt bad for him or because a teacher made them. He wanted someone to care about him.

Johnny sat down against a wall and picked at his food, suddenly not feeling hungry at all. But he knew he didn't have too much food waiting at home and reluctantly picked at what was in front of him. He needed to eat it. Forcing himself to eat his food, he found that it all tasted like cardboard. But at least he wasn't about to cry anymore. He heard the lunch doors swing open and quickly leapt to his feet, not wanting to be laughed at, pointed at, or asked "are you okay?" in that horrible sympathetic, pitying tone.

He quickly went back to his classroom and sat down in his seat, resting his chin on his folded arms. However, it turned out that the snickers were unavoidable. He heard them and just wanted to turn away from it all. But now there was no where to run. As Fred and his goons took their seats, he had to deal with remarks like "You get here without tripping?" or "Did you get enough to eat?" or "Do you really need other kids to fight us off for you?" Then there was the worst comment. The one that made him want to cry all over again. "Gee, does anyone want you around?"

_No,_ he thought miserably, _they don't._

* * *

Johnny walked into his house that afternoon. "Mom! Dad! I'm home!" He dropped his backpack down as the silence greeted him. _Well,_ he thought grimly, _it was worth a shot._ He looked at his father watching TV right in front of him and stood there for a moment. "I got a B on my homework," he said slowly, looking for any sign of recognition. The only response was a slight flicker of annoyance on his father's face. But it only lasted a second.

Sighing, he grabbed his backpack and dragged it to his room, tossing it on the bed before joining it.

Was he ever going to belong? Would anyone ever want him?

He pulled his English book out of his backpack and opened it, staring at it. He wanted to get it. He did. He wanted to be able to remember punctuation and all that but he just struggled with it. Was that why his parents wanted nothing to do with him? Was he not smart enough?

The sun set and Johnny sighed, heaving himself off the bed. He wandered down the hall and, as he did so, his parents' fighting got louder and louder. He opened the front door and paused, looking over his shoulder. Surely they wouldn't let an almost-nine-year-old wander out at night right? Wrong. They didn't even look over. He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Having no where to go, he wandered aimlessly for a while before finally going back home. No one even noticed when he went in.

* * *

The next day was even worse. He got his test back and was dismayed to see that he had a F, a low F. He had studied real hard for it too… When it was time for art class, he packed up his backpack and went to get up as Ms. Brown said, "Johnny? Will you stay please?"

Fred snickered as he left and Johnny closed his eyes. He didn't want to do this. He got up and walked slowly to her desk. "Yeah, Ms. Brown?"

She looked at him and sighed softly. "Johnny did you have your mom help you study like I suggested?"

He averted her gaze. "She was real busy," he lied softly. She had yelled at him to leave her alone when he tried to ask. He didn't want to admit to that.

"I see… Well how would you like to retake that test tomorrow at lunch time?"

"I'd like that just fine ma'am… Thank you." He still refused to meet her eyes.

"Johnny, look at me please?"

Sighing, he lifted his dark gaze to her light blue one.

"You're a bright boy, Johnny. You just need to study a little more, all right?"

He nodded his head slowly. "Yes ma'am."

She sighed softly. "All right… Go on to your art class then. If you're late, blame it on me."

Johnny threw her a grateful half-smile and muttered a thanks then hurried out of the classroom.

Lunch that day was as horrible as he thought it'd be. He saw a few kids sticking their legs out when they saw him, horrible smirks on their faces. He got his food and looked around for a place to sit, finding none that wasn't around some kid who had made fun of him at one time or another.

One kid sneered at him and stuck his leg out and, to Johnny's surprise, was slugged in the arm by the menacing looking kid from yesterday.

"Ow!" The kid rubbed his arm. "Golly, Randle," he hissed, annoyed.

The other kid, Randle, gave him a penetrating glare. "Then keep your legs under the table where they belong," he spat. The kid beside him, the kid with dark-gold hair who had also stood up for him, threw Johnny a kind smile. Johnny returned it weekly then turned away, deciding to eat outside again. He could hardly wait for tomorrow when he wouldn't have to go through this.

* * *

The next day he was torn between dreading lunch and looking forward to it. On the one hand, he could get away from the snickers and the smirks thrown his way. But on the other hand, he had to retake the test that he still wasn't prepared for. He didn't know the first thing about much of it but he'd do his best.

He walked into Ms. Brown's room at lunch, surprised to see another boy sitting at a desk, leaning back in his chair. Johnny glanced at Ms. Brown, afraid he was interrupting something.

"Johnny, there you are," she said with a smile. She got up and set his test down on the desk beside the other boy's. "Please sit down."

The boy turned around and waved. "Howdy."

"Please be quiet," she sighed. The boy heaved a sigh and began tapping his pencil on his desk as Johnny sank into the seat slowly.

Not two minutes later, the boy next to him was telling a long, drawn out story about a squirrel collecting nuts in the rain. As he hit the punch line, he burst into cheery laughter, hitting the desk happily. His laughter slowed as he looked up at Ms. Brown, who was fixing him with an annoyed look. "Sorry," he sighed, squirming in his seat. Johnny smirked. This kid was pretty entertaining.

Three minutes later, the boy dove into a story about his friend Steve trying to play football and running into a pretty girl that he had been trying to get the nerve to talk to all day. In the end, the girl gave his friend Steve an annoyed look and left.

"Do you want me to call your mother?" Ms. Brown asked, eyebrows raised. "I don't think it's nice of you to be making fun of Steve."

"Oh, it's okay," the boy told her happily. "I do it to his face all the time!"

"That isn't what I meant," she sighed.

"Look, Ms. Brown," he said diplomatically, "if I didn't do it he wouldn't know that he's my buddy."

"Just try to be quiet all right? I don't want to call your mother."

He pretended to zip his lips shut then threw away the key. That lasted for about seven minutes. Then he started knocking of the desk. When Ms. Brown groaned, he said, "Gee, Ms. Brown. I think you outta get that."

She threw him an impatient stare and he just smiled brightly right back. Johnny covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing. This kid had guts. The kid threw him a grin then leaned back in his chair again.

"You'll break your neck," Ms. Brown told him roughly. "Sit down."

The chair slammed on the ground and the boy saluted her. "Yes ma'am!"

"Oh, what am I going to do with you?" she sighed to herself.

"Love me. Laugh at my jokes." The boy blinked back at her, smiling.

She heaved a sigh and shook her head. Johnny looked at his test and marked the answer he thought was right. Boy, this was a tough test. The quiet remained for about nine minutes this time.

"Can I have some paper?" the boy asked.

"No."

"Why not? I'll write an essay or somethin' 'bout my bad behavior."

"You will not. You'll make a paper airplane and throw it all around the room."

Johnny wondered how much trouble this boy caused that Ms. Brown knew that. The boy grinned at her and said, "Ah, well, I guess that's true."

He was quiet for four minutes. "'Member when I was in here last week with Soda? That sure was fun!"

Ms. Brown fixed him with a stern look that plainly said that she disagreed. "Sit quietly."

He sighed again and started playing with his hands.

After a few more minutes passed, Ms. Brown stood. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I want you both to behave." She shot the boy a stern look and exited the room.

"Well, gee, I think I chased her off," the boy said, looking after her. He turned to Johnny and held out his hand. "Hi there. I'm Two-Bit." Two-Bit? Well, that was an original name.

Johnny glanced at him then glanced at the door, afraid of getting dragged in trouble with Two-Bit when she came back, and then looked at his test again. After a minute, he started to write down his answer.

"Golly, you sure are focusing awful hard," Two-Bit stated.

"Trying," Johnny muttered under his breath. He didn't really want to talk to Two-Bit. He couldn't stop worrying that if he did he'd just end up tricked and tripped again. Besides, he didn't want Ms. Brown to get mad.

"Don't get mouthy! I'm just tryin' to make conversation while I can. Ms. Brown don't really approve of my mouth. I figure she'd ship me off to Mexico if she could."

Johnny cracked a smile, unable to help it.

"With all that concentration you'd better get an A on that test there," the boy said again. Johnny bit back a sigh and glanced at the door again. Quickly, he turned to back to his test and wrote another answer.

"I don't see why you won't tell me your name. It ain't like it's signing a contract with the devil," Two-Bit said. Johnny glanced at the door again. He _really_ didn't want Ms. Brown walking in. "Come on, I'm bored!" whined the other boy. Johnny glanced at him to see him tipping his chair back yet again. This kid was gonna end up hurting himself. "Can I help?" Two-Bit asked.

Johnny shook his head quickly. The last thing he needed was to get in trouble for cheating! "Well, gee, that don't leave much for me to do," Two-Bit complained. Johnny felt very uncomfortable for the next five minutes seeing as Two-Bit wouldn't stop staring at him. It was creepy and yet pretty funny. Johnny glanced back at him every little bit and always saw the same sight: Two-Bit leaning forward in his seat, arms crossed on his knees, eyes wide and set on him.

Johnny snorted a chuckle and tossed his pencil at him. Immediately, the kid clutched his pencil to his chest and toppled out of the chair, proclaiming that he was in pain and had to have medical attention. Johnny couldn't help it anymore. He burst into the laughter he'd been holding back all through lunch. "Can I get your name?" asked Two-Bit.

Johnny caught his breath and extended his hand, still grinning in spite of himself. "Johnny Cade," he finally replied.

Two-Bit shook his hand enthusiastically. "Johnnycake?"

"Johnny _Cade_," Johnny replied, unable to stop grinning.

"Oh, my mistake," Two-Bit grinned. Yeah right. He'd obviously heard Johnny correctly and had done it on purpose. But it seemed to be a playful kind of teasing. Johnny didn't mind it a bit.

"What kind of a name is Two-Bit?" Johnny asked, smiling.

"It's my nickname," Two-Bit explained. "Even good 'ole Ms. Brown caves and calls me Two-Bit instead've Keith now. Ms. Brown sure is fun. I ain't even in her class anymore and sometimes I still get detention from her! My buddies do too but not as much as me. I goof off too much at recess when she's watching us play. She says she worries I'll hurt myself." He made a face. "Anyways, how's that test going?"

"Not so hot," Johnny admitted.

"Can I help? I ain't too bad at English."

"That's cheating." Johnny shook his head. "I can do it."

Two-Bit watched him for a moment. "Say," he said slowly, "how about I help you study? I can work with ya at lunches or after school or something."

Johnny looked at him slowly, sizing him up. "Really?"

"Yeah!" He nodded eagerly. "I don't mind! Would your buddies mind if I stole you at lunch sometimes?"

Johnny shook his head. "I eat outside," he said quietly. He looked back at his test but he could feel Two-Bit staring at him, working through it.

"Oh. Well, tell you what. I think I'll join you outside tomorrow. We'll be a coupla outsiders." He winked at his pun. "You game buddy?"

Johnny hesitated again, thinking it over.

"I promise I'll behave. As well as I can anyway. Behaving ain't really in my nature."

Johnny cracked a smile. "All right…"

"Great!" Two-Bit then kicked his legs onto the desk and started talking about the trouble he got into in math today. Johnny laughed when he got to his big punch line and Two-Bit beamed. "I like you kid!" Johnny beamed right back and turned back to his test, feeling better than he had in a long time.

Ms. Brown walked back in and glared at Two-Bit. "Legs on the floor."

Two-Bit grinned and saluted her before swinging his legs onto the ground. Johnny looked to his test again and suddenly it wasn't so hard anymore.

He handed Ms. Brown his test when it was time to go. He had to line up outside with the rest of his class now even though he hadn't even left the classroom. Two-Bit tapped his shoulder and leaned against the desk, looking at him. To Johnny's surprise, Ms. Brown didn't yell at him. "I'll go with ya to your line! Hey, whatcha doin' after school kid?"

Surprised, Johnny shrugged. "Nothin'."

"Great. Then you're hanging with me and my buddies," Two-Bit said cheerfully as he steered him towards the door. As the turned, Johnny could have sworn that he saw Ms. Brown smiling as she watched them go but he didn't worry about it. The only thing he was worried about was falling into another prank. But he trusted Two-Bit. It would be all right.

Everything would be just fine.

* * *

He was walking out of his classroom at the end of the day when an arm was thrown over his shoulders suddenly. "Hey there Johnnycake."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Hey Two-Bit."

The older boy grinned. "You ready to meet a buncha boys who belong in a zoo?"

"Can't be any worse than you."

"Ho! And now he gets mouthy!" Two-Bit grinned at him and messed with his hair. "I like you kid."

"Ah, get off," Johnny said with a laugh, ducking out of Two-Bit's hold and straightening his hair.

Two-Bit grinned. "Come on." He led him to the front of the school. "We meet here," he explained. Johnny nodded, feeling nervous again. He really didn't want another lunchroom incident.

Two boys ran towards them. After a minute, Johnny realized he knew them both. Well, sort of. The kid with golden hair reached them first, throwing his arms in the hair. "I told you Steve! Size ain't everything! Don't matter that you're bigger than me!" He grinned as his friend reached him.

"Oh, shut up." His friend was Randle, the other boy who had stuck up for him. "Hey, Two-Bit. Who's this?" He looked at him for a minute. "Hey, I know you," he said slowly.

"Yeah," the other kid piped up. "Fred was real nasty to you the other day."

"He was?" Two-Bit looked at Johnny, surprised.

"Yeah, you was in the bathroom," the kid with golden hair said.

"Oh."

Johnny glanced down, unsure of what to say. "Thanks for stickin' up for me," he finally said.

"That wasn't no problem," the kid with the golden hair said with a wave of his hand. "Was it Steve?"

"Nah."

The golden haired kid stuck out his hand. "I'm Sodapop Curtis."

Johnny looked at him for a minute then shook his hand. Before he could introduce himself, Two-Bit said, "This here is Johnnycake."

Johnny chuckled a little. "My name's Johnny. You guys sure do like nicknames huh?"

Soda grinned. "Two-Bit's is a nickname. My real name is Soda. My brother is Ponyboy."

Johnny looked at him for a moment, realized he was serious, and mumbled an apology, feeling terrifically embarrassed.

"Ah, it ain't a problem!"

Randle held out his hand. "I'm Steve."

Johnny shook it. "Johnny." He looked past Steve and Soda as two other boys headed to them. One looked a couple of years older and the other looked a couple of years younger.

Soda followed his gaze. "Those are my brothers, Darry and Ponyboy." He waved. "Hi guys!"

Darry and Pony stopped when they reached them. Darry glanced at Johnny curiously and Pony looked at Soda questioningly. Soda nodded, as if telling him Johnny was okay, and Pony smiled and held out his hand. "Hi. I'm Ponyboy."

"I'm Johnny." Johnny shook his hand.

"He's coming home with us," Soda informed them. He stopped and looked at Johnny. "You are, aren't you?"

"Uh… I guess… I don't want to be any-"

"It ain't any trouble!" Two-Bit insisted with a wave of his hand. "They'll love ya!"

Darry grinned a little. "Nice to meet ya kid. I'm Darry." Johnny smiled at him as they all started walking.

Two-Bit dove into telling the story of how he met Johnny, waving his arms excitedly as he spoke.

"Golly," Steve said with a grin. "Do you ever shut up?" Two-Bit grinned and lunged at him, trapping him in a headlock.

"Come on guys, keep moving," Darry said with a roll of his eyes and a smile.

Two-Bit leapt away from Steve and jogged ahead a few steps. Steve raced after him and then Soda whooped happily and charged after them. "Be careful!" Darry called after them. Soda waved a hand in acknowledgement as he ran.

"How'd your test go?" Pony asked him quietly. "Musta been hard with Two-Bit yacking in your ear."

Johnny smiled a little and shrugged. "I think it went okay. I'm not sure though. How was school for you?"

"Good. My teacher gave me a new book to read." Ponyboy started trying to reach around to his backpack. Johnny slowed his pace so that he could get it. He pulled out the book and handed it to Pony. "She says I read real good. I'm above my level."

"I see that." Johnny looked at the book. That was a book aimed for his age group. "How old are you?"

"I'm almost seven."

Johnny nodded, impressed. "Well that's real tuff." Pony smiled and they walked in silence the rest of the way but it was a nice silence, a comfortable one. Johnny didn't know it yet but it was the first of many.

* * *

One month later, Johnny was having a crappy day. His parents hadn't even wished him happy birthday. He hated that he was either getting hollered at, sometimes hit even, or ignored. He sighed as he walked onto campus. There would be no "happy birthdays" or birthday cake (not that he had ever even had one) for him today.

Well, that's what he was planning on anyway.

"Happy birthday, Johnnycake!" hollered five people standing in front of the school. Johnny smiled, perking up, and jogged to his friends. Friends. He had friends. After nine years, he finally had real friends. And they cared about him.

"Thanks guys," he said, beaming at each of them. "How'd you know?"

"I asked Ms. Brown if she knew," Two-Bit said proudly.

"You're coming home with us!" Pony told him happily. "You gotta cuz-"

Soda covered his mouth. "Cuz we wanna spend your birthday with you!" Pony nodded eagerly.

Johnny smiled and nodded. "Okay. I'll come." It wasn't like he didn't go to the Curtis house after school everyday anyway. Their parents loved him and he liked that feeling. He had never been cared for like he was with this group.

"We gotta get to class," Darry said. "Here, Pony, I'll walk you."

"I'll do it," Johnny offered. Pony grinned and nodded happily.

"Thanks." Darry smiled at him then jogged towards class.

"We'll see you at lunch," Soda said with a smile as he and Steve and Two-Bit left as well. Johnny walked Pony towards the first grade class.

"Happy birthday, Johnnycake," Pony said. Like Two-Bit had wanted, the nickname had caught on. Johnny didn't mind. He liked it.

"Thanks, Pony."

"You're welcome, Johnny."

Johnny dropped Pony off at his class and then went to his class, feeling on top of the world. This was already the best birthday of his life.

After school, they all met outside the building and then headed home. Pony was bouncing up and down happily and excitedly the entire way. The whole gang kept throwing excited grins at Johnny as they talked and walked home. He wasn't sure why but he wasn't going to bug them about it. He trusted them to do right by him and this time he knew he wasn't wrong in doing so. It was an odd feeling, having such faith in five people (seven counting Mr. and Mrs. Curtis), but it was nice.

When they entered the house, Johnny's eyes flew wide open in surprise. "Surprise!" was shouted mixed with "Happy Birthday Johnny!" from the gang and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis. There was a big banner reading _Happy Birthday Johnnycake_ and a chocolate cake sitting on the dining room table. He blinked as he looked around, trying to digest it all.

"Happy birthday Johnnycake." Mrs. Curtis wrapped him in a hug, which he returned.

"Are you surprised?" Pony asked eagerly.

"Yeah." Johnny looked around the room again, seeing everyone beaming at him.

"I thought for sure we blew it a couple of times," Darry stated.

Johnny shook his head, having trouble speaking. He couldn't believe they all cared this much. He saw Mr. Curtis setting some wrapped packages as well as a couple of gift bags on the table beside the cake. He looked around at them all again, trying to think of something to say.

"I think we broke him," Pony said after a few minutes.

Johnny laughed a little and shook his head. "Thanks guys… I don't know what to say…"

"Well, then tell us about your day dear," Mrs. Curtis said, smiling. "And you do like burgers, don't you?"

Johnny nodded his head.

"Oh, good." Mr. Curtis smiled at him. "Then I'll go right out back and get them up. Johnny nodded his head again.

"Come, now, Johnny." Mrs. Curtis smiled at him as Two-Bit, Steve, Darry, and Soda all headed outside with Mr. Curtis, leaving them and Ponyboy. "How was school?"

"Good…" He told her about the events of the day, leaving out his grade on his math test in hopes that she wouldn't notice.

"Did you get your test back yet?" Mrs. Curtis asked.

Johnny looked down at his shoes. "Well… Yeah… I didn't do so hot." He pulled it out of his backpack and showed it to her.

"Well, you want to know a secret?" she said, handing it back after a few minutes. "I like math and I'll help you if you'd like."

Johnny's face lit up. "That'd be real swell."

"Then don't you worry about this grade." She smiled at him kindly. "What do you say we go out with the other boys?"

"That sounds real good." He smiled at her happily and threw an arm around Pony's shoulders as they walked outside and joined the little football game that was going on.

The day passed by too quickly. The food was great, the cake was delicious, and he actually got presents. He got a jeans jacket because Mrs. Curtis was outraged when she found out that he was trying to wear one that didn't fit anymore, a football, a book that Mrs. Curtis had picked out for him (he wasn't much of a reader but she promised to read it with him), a homemade slingshot from the gang, some G.I. Joes and a deck of cards. After that, he hung around for a few more hours and played catch with Darry, then go fish with Pony, and watched TV with everyone. When it was time to go home, he, Steve, and Two-Bit all filed out of the house with Mrs. Curtis behind them.

They dropped off Steve first. Mrs. Curtis went to the door with him to hand him off to his mom and Two-Bit and Johnny hung back.

"Happy birthday Johnnycake," Two-Bit said, throwing his arm around his shoulders.

"Thanks, Two-Bit."

"We really surprised you?"

Johnny nodded.

"You must be real gullible," Two-Bit teased.

"I ain't never had a party before," Johnny told him quietly.

Two-Bit looked at him, surprised. "Never?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Wow." Two-Bit let this sink in then said cheerfully, "Well, don't worry. You'll have on every year now!" He rubbed his stomach. "Boy, do I love Curtis cake! Don't you?"

Johnny nodded, grinning. "Yeah, it was real good."

"I wish they would let us eat it everyday," Two-Bit said. "It could replace breakfast or something."

Johnny grinned but before he could answer, Mrs. Curtis rejoined them. Two-Bit opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off with, "No. Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry already tried that one, Two-Bit. No cake for breakfast."

"Lunch?"

"No."

"All right, we'll take dinner."

Mrs. Curtis laughed. "You sure are stubborn."

"I like the cake."

Johnny grinned. "It sure is good Mrs. Curtis."

Mrs. Curtis just smiled at him. "Well thank you Johnny."

Two-Bit's house was next and when they reached it, Two-Bit patted Johnny on the back. "Night buddy. See you at school tomorrow. Happy birthday. Bye, Mrs. Curtis! Thanks for the cake!" He jogged inside his house, shouting some joke to his mom and sister the moment he had opened the door. The door shut and they started the walk to Johnny's house.

"Thanks a lot, Mrs. Curtis," Johnny told her. "For everything. It was real nice. I had a real good time and you didn't have to do all that."

She smiled at him. "It was no problem sweetie. I hope we can do this for you next year." Johnny just smiled happily and nodded his head. As they reached his house, Johnny fought back a sigh. He didn't really want to go home. But at least he had had a great day.

Mrs. Curtis turned to him. "Happy birthday sweetheart. And remember that you are always welcome at our house. I don't care what time it is. If it's the middle of the night and you want to come over you come right over. Okay? Johnny Cade, I mean it. You come right over if you want to, or if you're lonely, or you need help on homework, or you want to read that book, or play ball… You come over for any reason. We sure won't mind."

Johnny smiled and nodded his head. "All right, Mrs. Curtis. Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." He went to the door, gave her a grin over his shoulder, then went inside. For once, the silence and the cold atmosphere didn't bother him. He still felt too happy from the birthday he had just spent with his friends. As he thought about it, he realized they were more than his friends.

They were his real family.

It was then that he realized things were only going to get better for him.

Everything was going to be all right.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review! :) Thanks guys! You all rock!**


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